A Necessary Evil (Book 1)

Chapter 41

Raphael barely stopped to let me process his words before he continued talking. “I mean, the last time I saw him he wasn’t looking so well,” he said as I stepped away from him. He leaned his head closer to mine before I could get too far away. “Blood oozing from a stomach wound really isn’t a good look for anyone, though I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the sight.” His tone was more hushed, making his words the more chilling. I backed away from him even further.

“It was you,” I commented, stunned. Raphael was the person who stabbed Andreas – my Andreas. This man standing before me that had just saved me from the man I hated the most in this world was the man who almost killed the man I— who almost killed Andreas. I started hyperventilating.

“I take it from your reaction you don’t think he looked so well either. Do tell me, was his death long and painful?” Raphael asked, a glint of satisfaction in his brilliant blue eyes.

That was all it took for me to calm down. He thought he had succeeded in killing Andreas. He didn’t know I had healed him. He had absolutely no idea what I was capable of. Maybe he knew I had magic, but he didn’t know how much. I smiled. “He’s not dead,” I said smugly. “I healed him. You failed.”

Raphael took in a deep breath as he tried to compose himself. He didn’t appear as upset as I imagined he would after hearing that the man he had tried to kill was still alive. “That really is too bad, it would have made me happier had he died. Never-the-less, my experiment served its true purpose.” He was smiling.

“And what purpose would that be?” I asked, my eyebrows raised. I backed further away from him, putting as much distance between us as I could muster.

He cocked his head to the side. “You really know nothing about me?”

I thought it over, my eyes narrowing into strips. He was right; I had absolutely no idea who he was. All I knew about him was that he stabbed Andreas and he was Raphael Argeno, John’s brother; neither facts made him very likable in my mind.

“Knowing you are John’ brother, is not really something that counts in your favor.”

“Coming from the girl who is set to marry him.”

“Not if she has anything to say about it. I would rather die a horrible death than become his bride. Anything is better than that.”

Raphael leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. “So tell me, what exactly did my excuse of a brother do to you in particular to make you hate him so much?”

“He tried to rape me,” I said bluntly. I was surprised at how easy it had become to talk about that event in my life. When I told Andreas, it had been a lot harder. What made it so easy for me to tell Raphael? Was it that I wanted to inflict pain on him for what he did to Andreas? At the moment, I wasn’t sure. The way Raphael reacted, though, made it seem like this wasn’t news to him.

“I’m sorry. I really thought he had been taught better, but it appears he hasn’t yet learned this lesson. I’ve tried to get him to behave, but I sincerely doubt he wants to listen to his younger brother, and my parents always take his side,” Raphael said, an edge to his otherwise indifferent tone.

“You are younger?”

“You couldn’t tell by my raging good looks, and his well… wrinkles?” he inquired with a smirk. I rolled my eyes.

“How much younger?”

“Eight years.”

“How come I have never met you? My family has been friends with yours for years.” I walked over to the opposite wall and decided to lean against it the way he was leaning against the wall on his side of the hallway.